What will happen to the EARTH when the POLARITIES CHANGE?

Question

I KEEP HEARING ALL THIS STUFF ABOUT THE POLES CHANGING(shifting), AND THAT WE ARE MOVING INTO NEW ERA ?
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??????? (FOR US , FOR EARTH , THE OCEANS, WEATHER???)

How is this connected to the MAYANS?

their calender, and it seems to me they were pretty good in calculations.....Some scientist said that this shift suppose to come within a few years!!

Answer 1

I've answered this before...

The Earth's magnetic poles do indeed change periodically on a scale of millions of years. While we a due a shift, we can't predict if it'll happen in a million years time, or tomorrow, or how long it takes to happen.

There are several possible effects of such a change in polarity of the magnetic field.

1. The Magnetic field protects the Earth from cosmic radiation. If it switches off totally then turns on in the opposite polarity, it will leave us exposed to harmful radiation, and is likely to kill most of us.
2. Birds use magnetic fields to navigate - if the magnetic field changes, they might get really confused and fly into each other, the ground and us, bringing about total apocalypse...
3. You'll need a new compass.
4. It won't affect the oceans - except biota near the surface muight get fried by radiation.
5. The magnetic field recorded on the ocean floor will change, allowing future generations of geologists to continue to estimate the age of the oceans...

It has nothing to do with the Mayans as far as I know, unless they started it all by travelling back in time and setting the chnages off with a big magnet...

Anyway, don't fret. It's likely that you won't be around to find out...

Answer 2

There is absolutely nothing to connect the Mayans with the poles changing. A lot of people are freaking out because the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. So what? What evidence is there that the Mayans were able to see into the future and know that in 2012 it all ends? None.

Ok, for the poles changing. Periodically, in geologic history, the poles of the earth change. North becomes south, south becomes north (magnetically speaking that is). There are no mass extinctions that coincide with these changes. Well, there are some protozoans called radiolaria that seem to die out in large numbers, but that is about it. Going by the evidence in the rock, the poles change and it does not cause much death and destruction. We would have to learn how to read our compasses backwards and some migratory animals are going to get a little confused. There is no reason to believe that anything dire is going to happen. In fact, there is no reason to believe that the poles are going to be switching anytime soon.

Which scientists are saying this will happen in the next few years? Do you have a link to a page where this bit of news is reported? I have not heard any scientist making a prediction that the poles are about to change. In fact, making a prediction like that would be pretty hard to do. Scientists cannot predict when earthquakes are going to happen. How could they possibly predict when an event that has never happened in recorded human history is going to happen? Any prediction would be a guess.

Answer 3

The magnetic poles of the earth are constantly changing. They are not rigid poles stuck into the crust of the earth. At the moment it's located in northern Canada, about 600 km from the nearest town: Resolute Bay. Scientists have long known that the magnetic pole moves. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting arctic journey during which his ship got stuck in the ice for four years. No one returned until the next century. In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved--at least 50 km since the days of Ross.

The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating "to 40 km per year," says Newitt. At this rate it will exit North America and reach Siberia in a few decades.

Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?"

Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, they are mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past.Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago. Are we overdue for another? No one knows.

Answer 4

Okay, okay, now just calm down! These changes do not occur overnight, it takes tens of thousands of years to complete a polar reversal. The Earth experiences polarity reversals on a regular basis (every couple of hundred thousand years or so) and life continues. During the switch, harmful magnetic radiation will be directed elsewhere than the polar regions, as secondary dipoles assume the role of the primary dipoles, but you and I won't be around to witness that. As for the Mayans, well that is a question for mythology or religion, not science.

Answer 5

Some people have nothing better to do than spread alarm. First, why does anyone think the Mayans could see into the future? The most likely explanation for their calendar ending in 2012 is that is as far as they could count!

Yes, the poles have shifted. What effect will it have on us? We really don't know but I doubt it is anything to be alarmed about, even if it does occur in our time which is highly doubtful.

Answer 6

dude this will probably take billions of years...